Saturday, March 15, 2008

Doctor who?

Spotted in the Washington Post:
Under a little-known Nazi-era law, only people who earn PhDs or medical degrees in Germany are allowed to use "Dr." as a courtesy title.
While the Germans have extended the right to other Europeans, American PhD holders living in Germany cannot use "Dr." on their business cards. The police there have actually investigated American scientists and other scholars for "title abuse," and the article cites a few cases.

3 comments:

Anabasis said...

Great blog. I'm graduating from BC in May and enrolling in History ALM classes this fall, and I'm pretty excited to begin.

I do have one pressing question. Do you see a lot of students use the ALM in substitution of an AM, or is it more of a transition from one discipline to another? I noticed that you were IT and went on to study History at Harvard. I, on the other hand, am a History major right now but want to go on to doctoral work within the same field. The ultimate goal is a PhD in History, I'm just making sure it's a solid progressive step before leaping in.

Thanks and keep up the great stuff!

I Lamont said...

Thanks for your email, Patrick. The ALM is not a substitute AM -- it's a full master's degree, and in my opinion is excellent preparation for PhD-level research in the same field of concentration. There are many instances of ALM recipients going on to master's or PhD programs at Harvard, and I know others go straight into PhD programs elsewhere after receiving their ALMs.

Anabasis said...

Thanks a lot for the advice, Ian! I can't wait to start at Harvard! I actually found work over there so hopefully TA will carry me through to the thesis much like your situation.